


'Till you're good as new

by AceOfRoses



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Deleted Scenes, I have no idea how long it takes to drive to Scotland and at this point I'm too scared to ask, M/M, Pining, Self-indulgent song references, Set in Episodes 159-160 | Scottish Safehouse Period (The Magnus Archives), The Lonely - Freeform, kinda only one bed but they don't dwell on it, post episode 159, scottish safehouse period
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:54:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29269101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceOfRoses/pseuds/AceOfRoses
Summary: Scenes from between the Lonely and the Safehouse.Title from Two by Sleeping at Last
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 8
Kudos: 56





	'Till you're good as new

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends!
> 
> For peak reader experience, queue up Passenger Seat by Death Cab for Cutie and press play at the start of the car ride scene. (Starts at "True to his word, Martin had fallen asleep".) It's the exact vibe I was going for and Crow agrees so that's good enough for me. Also it's just a great song in general. 
> 
> I don't thinks there's any content warnings for this fic, but if you think otherwise please let me know and I'll put them in.

It was cold when they left the Lonely. Maybe it was the damp underground they found themselves in, maybe it was the curls of fog that followed them out of the tunnels, but Jon couldn’t help worrying. 

Martin’s hand in his was so cold. He used to radiate warmth, like a human heater, and Jon wondered how long it had been since Martin had been properly warm. In any other circumstance, he would have stopped and asked if Martin was okay, but the tunnel the Lonely had dropped them at was unfamiliar and required most of his attention. He wanted nothing more than to get out of there. Well. That was slightly untrue. As they reached the trapdoor that led back into the archives, Jon decided a briefing was in order. There would be chaos when they re-entered, and he got the feeling Martin wasn’t aware of what had been unleashed upstairs.

“Martin, when we get up there we’re going to need to be careful. There’s a couple hunt avatars, and Daisy might’ve gone feral and… Martin?”

The other man had been staring past him, clearly not hearing a word Jon had said.

“Martin. Are you alright?

Martin shook his head, as if to clear it.

“Yeah, ‘m fine. Just… this is real. The Lonely… kinda messed with my head a bit. It’s hard to focus. If it wasn’t for my hand I think I’d have floated away by now… or maybe turned back? I don’t know.”

Jon had forgotten they were still holding hands. He looked down at his hand, intertwined with Martin’s. It wasn’t cold anymore, he noticed. Had he done that? Had he warmed Martin up? Jon wasn’t sure who he was to Martin anymore, didn’t know if he was crossing any boundaries. Neither of them had asked for this, for the other’s hand. Neither were sure if it was something they were allowed. 

But Martin was still holding his hand. Surely that meant it was okay?

“Oh. Um. I can let go, if you’d like,” Martin stammered. 

“Oh. No, no if it keeps you grounded then it’s alright. I don’t mind. I might need to let go of it to climb the ladder up tho the archives though…”

“Oh yeah. Of course. Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Let’s go and see what’s out there.”

********

“What happened down there? What happened to Martin?”

“Martin’s… Martin’s fine, Basira. He’ll be alright.”

Martin was not fine. Jon knew this. There was still fog in his hair, which the Lonely seemed to have drained all the colour from. He was still so cold. Jon knew the long-term effects of the Lonely were just beginning to show. He was… coming back to himself, from whatever hold the Lonely still had on him, and it was clear that he wasn’t going to let go of Jon’s hand anytime soon. He could deal with that later. There wasn’t time to fixate on the feelings triggered by Martin’s presence, after he’d been away for so long. Not when their lives were still in danger.

“The important thing is, what do we do now?” Jon shook his head, trying desperately to focus on the task at hand.

“You leave. Leave the city, if you can. Trevor and Julia are still in the building, I think, the Sasha thing is somewhere out there and Daisy…”

Basira’s face fell for a second. Jon remembered what he had heard as he was heading to the tunnels, a death pact of sorts. Poor Daisy.

“Do either of you have anywhere you could go? Whatever the aftermath of this, there will definitely be police involvement. I’m not sure where Lukas and Elias went, but they’ll have a hell of a lot to answer for.”

A memory forced its way to the forefront of Jon’s mind. Peter Lukas, trying so hard to resist him, resist Jon, he needed to know-

“Peter Lukas… He’s gone. He tried to take Martin. I think I- well I don’t know what I did but he isn’t there anymore. He… he tried to take Martin.”

“Well alright then,” Basira shook her head slightly, as if there was a joke Jon wasn’t privy to. “Anywhere you two could head? You can’t stay here locked in Jon’s office, that’s for sure.”

Jon shook his head. At this point, he didn’t even have his own apartment. He hadn’t bothered looking for a new one after his coma, he’d just been sleeping in the storage-room cot where Martin had stayed during the months when Prentiss had been around.

“Martin? Any connections out of town?” Basira pressed.

“... No. Never- never really went out of town much.”

“Well alright then. Give me your phone.” Basira took Jon’s phone from his outstretched hand and typed a location into the map function. “It’s a safehouse of Daisy’s, the key is in the mailbox, you should be safe there. It’s a bit of a drive, considering it’s in Scotland, but you should be safe there.”

“...Scotland?”

“Yes, Jon. Scotland. I hope you have a car. Text me when you get there. Now, let’s figure out how to get you two out of the building unnoticed.”

**********

Martin didn’t let go of Jon’s hand for the whole tube ride over to his flat, and it was getting a bit overwhelming. Not only that, but they had found seats next to each other and he had immediately put his head on Jon’s shoulder and closed his eyes. 

That was probably more physical contact than either had received in the past three months, but Martin clearly needed it and Jon wasn’t complaining. It was… nice. Like coming home to a heated house after you’ve been out in the snow. It would have been very comfortable, if Jon hadn’t been acutely aware of every point of contact and trying desperately not to move. When they finally reached their stop, they got up to leave and Jon shivered. The sudden rush of air that came with leaving the station seemed unreasonably cold without Martin’s extra warmth.

“I haven’t been around much recently, so apologies in advance if it’s an absolute mess,” Martin said as he fished the keys to his flat out of his pocket.

“I’m sure what you consider messy is positively immaculate compared to my living situation for the past year.”

They entered his apartment and sure enough, it was fairly tidy. It did not, however, look lived in. A thin coating of dust on the coffee table, a calendar seven months out of date, air that was slightly musty. It felt almost like a showroom. A house, but not a home. 

“Well, we’d better start packing if we want to reach the safehouse before it’s too late. You start packing your clothes, I’ll see what food we can bring up? I’m sure whatever food is up there hasn’t been changed in years…” Jon started moving down the hall, but didn’t get very far. Martin was still holding his hand, (Martin was still holding his hand) and hadn’t moved an inch.

“Wait- um, can.. Can you come with me? I… I don’t want to be alone right now.”

He turned away slightly, as if he was embarrassed to ask the question. Jon mentally slapped himself. The man had just been in the domain of the literal fear of isolation, of course he wouldn’t want to be alone.

“Oh- of course, sorry I didn’t even think of that.” He waved off Martin’s apologies. “Now, where would you like to start?”

********

“Why am I surprised that you have an entire cupboard dedicated to tea?”

They had finished packing a suitcase full of Martin’s clothes and toiletries, and had moved on to collecting food and other necessities. Basira hadn’t mentioned whether the safehouse had a fridge or even electricity, so they were only collecting cans and other non-perishable items. Martin had more of these than the average person, but that was to be expected after his bout of Prentiss-induced lockdown. 

Jon picked up one of the numerous boxes of tea that lined one of Martin’s cupboards.

“And why are all these packages unopened? Or look like they haven’t been used in ages?”

“Oh…” Martin looked at the ground sheepishly. “I haven’t… made much tea recently? I wasn’t here often and I couldn’t really make it in the office Peter gave me… so I just didn’t.”

“You could have made it in the archives. I wouldn’t have minded.”

“That… wasn’t really an option. Peter didn’t really like me socializing. Which made sense, but… yeah. No tea. Nothing… nothing comfortable, really.”

“I hate that man.” Jon said with a fury that came quickly and burned deep within him. It was surprising, how much hatred he could hold for a man he had only met a couple times, but it wasn’t new.

It was, however, new to Martin.

“Wait, why? I mean, I don’t know what happened… in there... when you two were talking, but did you really know him well enough to hate him?”

“I don’t need to. He manipulated you, tried to make you sacrifice yourself, didn’t let you have tea, for goodness sake, he tried to take you away-” Jon caught himself before he got too carried away. “The point is, he was awful and I hate him. Don’t you?”

“I don’t know. I think… I think I understand him, as much as anyone could, and I don’t like what he did, but… it’s too soon to say I hate him.”

“Well, I suppose I can understand that.” Jon’s attention was brought back to the box of tea he was holding. “Would… you like to brew a cup for the road? It’s getting late so maybe not black tea, but… something comforting? It’s been a long day.”

“Yes, yes I think a cup of tea would be lovely.”

**********

“It’s my mum’s car, really, but she couldn’t drive in the last couple years so I just kept it here… It’s a good thing you’re driving. I barely passed my road test and, living in London, I haven't driven in ages.”

They were walking down to the car park underneath Martin’s building, his outburst breaking the anxious silence that had hung around since they’d left his flat. It had startled Jon out of his nervous thoughts, reminding him what they were doing. Where they were going. 

As they reached the car, a beat-up old thing, Jon took a deep breath. He’d given it much thought, and the only way to go on was to ask the question that had been running through his mind since they’d left the institute.

“Martin, before we go…”

Martin paused, key in the car door.

“Yes?”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” It came out in a rush. “I just… I don’t want you going all the way up to bloody Scotland with me because of a sense of… of obligation, or because you owe me or something. Today’s been very rushed, and you’ve been through a lot, hell, we’ve both been through a lot these past months… I just want to make sure you’re ok with this.”

The words poured out of Jon, tinged with all the emotions he’d felt since that morning, the fear and adrenaline and the constant please don’t leave me, please come back, I need you that had played on loop for weeks now. He needed Martin to come with him, couldn’t do any of this without him, but he needed to know that Martin wanted to come. That whatever it meant, Martin chose to stay with him.

“Jon, I… I can’t be alone right now. I think I would die, or go back there, which would be worse. And you might be the only person I really know right now, but you’re also the only person I want to be with right now. And, and if that means going all the way to Scotland with you, then… well then get in the car, I guess. I’m not going because I have no other option, or- or because I owe you or something. I’m going because you’re going and so we’re going. Now can we get in the car because I think I’m going to pass out where I’m standing.”

“Oh. Okay, yeah, we can get going… just let me put the suitcase in the back.” 

With that speech seemingly taking up the last of his energy, Martin opened the passenger door and slumped into the seat, utterly exhausted. Jon got in the driver’s side, took the keys from where Martin had put them on the dash and started the engine. On to Scotland.

**********

True to his word, Martin had fallen asleep just after they left London proper. Jon had discovered a CD labeled “Late Night Car Ride” thirty minutes later and, not looking forward to a long and silent drive, decided to play it quietly enough that it wouldn’t wake him. Jon didn’t have time to listen to much music, so almost every song was new to him. It didn’t matter though, it was Martin’s music, so it immediately appealed to him. The rotating playlist of soft songs also gave him a soundtrack to his thoughts, which, given the late hour and long day, were going haywire in his head. He still hadn’t really processed that Martin was there, really there, at last. Curled up in the seat beside him, not lost in fog or locked in an office or avoiding him. That, at least, was a relief. He had Martin back.

He didn’t, however, know in what capacity he had Martin. Jon knew how he felt, how much he cared for Martin, how much it’d hurt when he’d pushed him away, and he knew why. And he knew how Martin had felt, all that time ago. It seemed like years. Before the unknowing, before the coma, before the months of isolation, Martin had cared for him too. He could still hear his voice from the Lonely, telling him as much.

“I really loved you, you know.”

Past tense.

He could hear Peter Lukas taunting him, telling him what he already knew and already feared.

“He made his choice, and it wasn’t you.”

But he was wrong. Martin had chosen him, had chosen to come back. 

He could hear his own desperate voice.

“I need you.”

And he could hear Martin’s apathetic response.

“No you don’t.”

But he was wrong. He did need Martin. And now it was clear. In whatever capacity Martin was willing to give, Jon needed him by his side. Whatever that meant, whatever it ended up being, no matter how much it hurt. If he’d missed his chance to be more than a friend, then so be it. 

Jon let out a sigh, the potential finality of that last thought weighing on him. Martin stirred, and let out a small sound as he shifted in his seat. Jon hoped desperately that he hadn’t woken him up. He deserved a good sleep.

The CD started up its final song, a slow piano piece. The singer went on about shooting stars and satellites, and long drives home. It was calming, and if he focused solely on the music he could almost tune out his own thoughts. He could tell why Martin had put that track on his car ride CD, it seemed almost made for that sort of journey. 

“When you feel embarrassed, then I’ll be your pride. When you need directions, then I’ll be the guide. For all time…” 

As the song came to an end and the CD started from the beginning, Jon’s focus shifted to the passing road, lit only by their headlights and the occasional streetlight. They were close to their destination. He turned his mind to the maps and highways, leaving all thoughts of the institute and what had happened there on the road behind him.

**********

“Martin?... Martin, wake up. We’re here.”

A couple more taps on the shoulder and soft words roused Martin from his slumber, and Jon left to go get the luggage out of the back seat. It was fully dark now, the stars clearly visible in the clear night unsullied by light pollution. It had been so long since he’d left the city. There was something different in the air, something sharp and clean. It felt good to finally be there, despite his sore back caused by the long drive. It felt like beginnings or summer holidays, something he hadn’t felt in a long while.

“Jon?” Martin called sleepily from the car. “Where’d you go?”

He didn’t seem worried this time, merely inquisitive. Like Jon’s presence was something he could count on. Maybe the Lonely couldn’t reach him now. That was unlikely, but Jon was happy to entertain the notion that they might be out of the worst of it.

“I’m just getting the bags out, you can stay there if you’d like. I’ll find the key and get us inside.”

“Oh no, that’s alright. I’d like to have a look around.”

They couldn’t see much in the dark, only the outline of a cottage and the gravel pathway leading up to the front door, but the combined light of the moon and their phone flashlights gave them a good idea of where the mailbox was. From there, it was a simple matter of finding the key Basira told them was there and unlocking the door. 

Inside was a small hallway with doors leading off either side. After checking a couple of dark rooms, they found the bedroom. Inside was an old queen sized bed and a dresser with a mirror on top. Nothing fancy, but Jon couldn’t imagine Daisy owning a safehouse and actually putting effort into decorating it. Martin had already sat down on the bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning profusely.

“You go to sleep, alright? I’ll bring the bags in and lock the door. We’ll save exploring for the morning.”

“M’kay” he mumbled, already pulling the duvet over his head.

When Jon finished putting their hastily-packed belongings in the corner of the room, Martin was already sound asleep. Jon considered finding a couch instead, but he too was absolutely exhausted. As he got into the bed, doing his best not to disturb its other occupant, he decided to worry about it in the morning. All of it. 

Things would be different in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Yes I have a playlist specifically for long late-night car rides and yes Passenger Seat is the first song on the playlist.
> 
> If you did listen along, I love that song (and that album, and that band...) with a piece of my soul and I hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> Big Thanks to my beta/editor Crow, who's been a great help and without whom I would be much less coherent. You can check them out at @thatchedrooftavern!
> 
> Kudos and comments keep me motivated and also make my day, please leave some if you feel so inclined.
> 
> I hope you have a wonderful day!


End file.
